Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Pelargoniumxc3x97hortorum cultivar Sil Onno.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Geranium plant, botanically known as Pelargoniumxc3x97hortorum, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Sil Onnoxe2x80x99.
The new Geranium is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Weener, Germany. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new upright and mounded Geranium cultivars that flower uniformly and have attractive flower and foliage coloration.
The new Geranium originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 1998 of the Pelargoniumxc3x97hortorum cultivar Silfra, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with the Pelargoniumxc3x97hortorum cultivar SEL Lucky, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Sil Onno was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny from this cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Weener, Germany.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken at Weener, Germany, since September, 1998 has shown that the unique features of this new Geranium are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Sil Onnoxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Sil Onnoxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Geranium cultivar:
1. Upright and mounded growth habit.
2. Dark green-colored leaves.
3. Red purple-colored semi-double flowers.
Plants of the new Geranium differ primarily from plants of the parents in leaf coloration, flower form and flower coloration.
The new Geranium can be compared to the cultivar, Purple Rose, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,395. However, in side-by-side comparisons conducted in West Chicago, Ill., plants of the new Geranium differed from plants of the cultivar Purple Rose in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Geranium had smaller leaves with shorter petioles than plants of the cultivar Purple Rose.
2. Plants of the new Geranium had larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Purple Rose.
3. Plants of the new Geranium had more petals per flower than plants of the cultivar Purple Rose.
4. Plants of the new Geranium had shorter peduncles than plants of the cultivar Purple Rose.